Product Information

Dutasteride (in Avodart) is an active agent in an oral medication that effectively treats genetic male pattern hair loss on the top of the head and the mid-scalp area. It is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline.

Dutasteride was developed to treat symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in men. Chemically similar to Finasteride - the active compound in propecia- dutasteride has proven to be more effective in clinical trials. Like propecia, dutasteride treats both male pattern hair loss and BPH.

Dutasteride is an inhibitor of the enzyme 5 alpha-reductase which converts testosterone to DHT (dihydrotestosterone). Unlike finasteride, which only inhibits the Type II form of the enzyme, dutasteride inhibits both the Type I and Type II forms. This dual effect makes dutasteride more effective than finasteride (Propecia).

As with other hair-loss medications, patients taking Avodart should take expect to wait a year or more before evaluating Avodart’s effectiveness.

During the first six months of treatment, you may observe some thinning of your existing hair. This may be due to the progression of your hair loss before dutasteride had a chance to work, or some shedding of miniaturized hair that makes way for the new hair growth. It is important to be patient during this period.

Effects on Hair Growth

Avodart is normally prescribed to treat enlarged prostate, however, it can also be prescribed 'off-label' to treat hair loss in men.

Click here to read studies on the effectiveness of Avodart in treating male hair loss 'off label'. 'Off label' means that the medicine is being used to treat a condition other than those that it was initially licensed to treat. For example, Avodart has been licensed to treat enlarged prostate but can also be used 'off-label' to treat male hair loss. This means that there is less established data regarding the effectiveness of this treatment for the condition which it is prescribed and means that the instructions contained in the product information leaflet will not match the condition you are treating. You should always follow the instructions on the dispensing label on your medicine and contact us if you have any questions.

Hair loss occurs when testosterone in the scalp mixes with 5 alpha-reductase and produces dihydrotestosterone or DHT. DHT is a potent derivative of testosterone and is believed to cause male pattern baldness when it binds to the receptor sites in hair follicles. Over time the DHT binds with these receptors, slowly choking the follicles’ ability to produces healthy hairs.

Non-Medicinal Alternatives to Treat Hair LossThere are a few non-medicinal alternatives for hair loss, however there success rates do vary and some can be quite costly. There is little evidence to suggest herbal remedies are effective. Research is recommended if you decide to proceed with any of these options.

Homeopathy

Acupuncture

Aromatherapy

Wigs/Hair Pieces

Hair Transplants

*Prescription medicines are supplied subject to a medical consultation at the discretion of a doctor.

Side effects with Avodart can include:

Common side effects

These may affect up to 1 in 10 men:

inability to achieve or maintain an erection (impotence), which may persist after you stop taking Avodart

decreased sex drive (libido), which may persist after you stop taking Avodart

difficulty with ejaculation, which may persist after you stop taking Avodart.

breast tenderness or enlargement (gynecomastia)

dizziness when taken with tamsulosin

If you are concerned about these effects, or if the product affects you in a different way, stop using it and talk to your doctor or pharmacist.

Active ingredients:

0.5 mg dutasteride

Inactive ingredients:

Mono and diglycerides of caprylic/capric acid and butylated hydroxytoluene (E321).

Read the following warnings to ensure you are selecting an appropriate product.

Do not take Avodart if:

You’re allergic to dutasteride, other 5-alpha reductase inhibitors, soya, peanuts or any of this medication’s other ingredients.

You have a severe liver disease.

If you believe any of these apply to you, don’t take Avodart until you have consulted your doctor.

This medication is for men only. It should not be consumed or handled by women, children or adolescents.

Warnings

Talk to your doctor before taking Avodart.

In clinical studies, some patients taking dustasteride with an alpha-blocker experienced heart failure. In patients taking only dustasteride or only an alpha blocker heart failure was less common.

Tell your doctor if you have liver problems. You may require additional check-ups while taking Avodart.

Women, children and adolescents should not handle leaking Avodart capsules, as the active ingredient can be absorbed through the skin. Wash the affected area immediately with soap and water if there is any skin contact.

Use a condom during sexual intercourse. Dutasteride can enter the semen. If your partner is or may be pregnant, avoid exposing her to your semen as dutasteride may affect a male boy’s normal development. Dutasteride can decrease sperm count, semen volume and sperm motility which could affect your fertility.

Avodart affects a blood test for PSA (prostate-specific antigen), which detects prostate cancer. If you will be tested for PSA, tell your doctor that you are taking Avodart. Men taking Avodart should have their PSA tested regularly.

In a clinical study, men taking Avodart developed a serious form of prostate cancer more often than men who did not take Avodart.

Avodart may result in breast tenderness and enlargement. If this becomes troublesome, or if you develop breast lumps or nipple discharge, talk to your doctor as these may signal a serious condition like breast cancer.

Contact you doctor or pharmacist with any questions about Avodart.

Other medications and Avodart

Tell your doctor if you take, have recently taken, or might take any other medication.

Some can react with Avodart and include side-effects. These medicines include:

verapamil or diltiazem (for high blood pressure)

nefazodone (an antidepressant)

itraconazole or ketaconazole (for fungal infections)

alpha-blockers (for enlarged prostate or high blood pressure)

Inform your doctor if you are taking any of these medications as you may need a reduced dose of Avodart.

Avodart with food and drink

Take Avodart with or without food.

Pregnancy, breast-feeding and fertility

Women who are pregnant or may be pregnant must not handle leaking Avodart capsules. They can absorb Dutasteride through the skin which can affect a male baby’s normal development. This is a severe risk in the first 16 weeks of pregnancy.

Contact your doctor if a pregnant woman has touched dutasteride.

Driving and using machines

Avodart is unlikely to affect your ability to drive or operate machinery.

Avodart contains lecithin from soya

This may contain soya oil. If you have a peanut or soya allergy, do not use this product.

Read all packaging and the Product Information Leaflet before taking any new medication and inform your doctor of medicines take or intend to take.

Delivery & Shipping Information

UK ORDERS

We offer FREE standard tracked delivery on orders over £40.

The following delivery options are available:

Standard Tracked Delivery - 2/3 day delivery - £2.95

Express Tracked Delivery - 1/2 day delivery - £4.45

DPD Next Day - 1 working day - £6.95

Special Delivery (Guaranteed before 1pm) - £8.95

Saturday Guaranteed before 1pm - £10.45

Important Delivery Information

All our orders are sent out using Royal Mail (unless stated). We always aim to dispatch all Royal Mail orders received before 4pm the same working day. Any orders received after 4pm or over the weekend will be dispatched the next working day. We aim to dispatch all DPD orders placed before 3pm on the same working day.Orders will not be dispatched on weekends or bank holidays.

All orders are subject to approval by our team of doctors and pharmacists. Your delivery date in the checkout is subject to your consultation being approved by our healthcare team.

All orders can be fully tracked from your dispatch email and in your account.

We ensure all parcels are in plain packaging for discreet delivery of your medicines and pharmacy goods.

Deliveries containing pharmacy-only or prescription medicines may require a signature on receipt.

Delivery is free for all NHS prescriptions.

Royal Mail

Royal Mail are the most widely recognised mail delivery company in the UK. Being on the UK’s 29 million doorsteps six days a week means they offer unparalleled price and convenience. The Independent Pharmacy uses Royal Mail’s Tracked 48, Tracked 24, and Special Delivery Guaranteed parcel services to offer reliable, fully-tracked delivery at very competitive prices. Your Royal Mail parcel will arrive with your normal daily delivery of post.

Please note: Royal Mail do not deliver on Sundays or Bank Holidays - this should be taken into account when ordering.

If you are not home to accept your delivery, a card should be left by the Royal Mail representative. This card will provide details of where you can collect the order or how to arrange re-delivery.

Should you be unable to collect your missed delivery or arrange for your medication to be redelivered by Royal Mail, the pharmacy can resend your medication to the same, or a different address provided it has been returned to us and this happens within a 30 day window.

Once a package has been shipped with Royal Mail we advise that you are bound to the terms and conditions of their use together with the terms and conditions contained herein.

You have the right to cancel your order up to the point when your treatment is dispatched. The pharmacist must destroy any medication within 30 days of it being returned, even un-opened boxes, so we are not able to offer refunds once your treatment has been dispatched.

DPD

DPD Local is the most innovative parcel carrier around. Thanks to their industry-leading Predict service, they provide parcel recipients with a one hour delivery window, notified by email, so you don't have to wait in all day. What's more, it enables receivers to watch the progress of their delivery on a real-time map, all the way down to a final 15 minute time-slot.

As well as keeping customers informed at every stage of the journey, DPD believe in maximising choice and convenience. That's why DPD provide access to a suite of options both on the day of delivery and the night before, allowing customers to take delivery of their goods in a way that suits. If you wish to reschedule, you can:

Select an alternative delivery date

Opt for delivery to a nominated neighbour

Have the parcel left in a specified safe place

Collect the parcel from your local DPD Pickup Shop

Upgrade delivery to By 12

Please note: DPD do not deliver on Saturdays, Sundays or Bank Holidays - this should be taken into account when ordering.

Once a package has been shipped with DPD we advise that you are bound to the terms and conditions of their use together with the terms and conditions contained herein.

You have the right to cancel your order up to the point when your treatment is dispatched. The pharmacist must destroy any medication within 30 days of it being returned, even un-opened boxes, so we are not able to offer refunds once your treatment has been dispatched.

Forwarding houses

We are unable to ship orders to mailing or forwarding houses for onwards shipping to locations outside of the UK.

BFPO Postcodes

Unfortunately we are unable to deliver medicines to BFPO postcodes.

Remote Areas

Please be aware that Royal Mail Guaranteed services are not available to all customers in the UK, especially those that live in remote postcodes. Royal Mail advise customers of the following:

Frequently Asked Questions

Avodart contains dutasteride as the active ingredient and is only available as 0.5mg capsules.

Avodart 0.5mg capsules can be used to treat different conditions:

At The Independent Pharmacy is can be prescribed to reduce hair loss & promote hair regrowth in men.

It can also be used in patients that have an enlarged prostate. This is known as BPH or benign prostatic hyperplasia. For use in treating BPH, Avodart should be prescribed by your GP. This is because men with enlarged prostates require regular prostate exams and blood tests to ensure their treatment is safe and effective.

Male pattern baldness (hair loss) is caused bya combination of genetic factors and the male hormone DHT (dihydrotestosterone). Blocking the production of DHT reduces hair loss and increases production of thicker hair.

The mode of action of Avodart is similar to Propecia. They both block the enzymes in the male body, 5-alpha reductase 1 and 2, that produce DHT. Propecia mainly blocks 5-alpha reductase 2 whilst Avodart blocks them both.

If you are going to have a prostate test, it is important to tell your doctor you are taking Avodart capsules. The unit of measurement for prostate measurement is your PSA or prostate specific antigen levels and Avodart can reduce these levels and effect the result.

To get the best results take one capsule daily. The capsule should be swallow whole with or without food. Ensure you do not chew or take a broken capsule as the contents can give you a sore mouth or throat.

Only take one capsule a day. Avodart is not any more effective if you exceed the recommended dose.

It best to start treatment as soon as possible after you have noticed hair loss and results are seen sooner if treatment is started within a year of hair loss.

Avodart normally causes the DHT levels to drop quickly but the hair follicles can then take months to recover and start growing thicker hair again. For this reason it is important to ensure you take Avodart every day and continue treatment for at least 6 months before assessing its true effect. It is a good idea to take photos of the areas affected by hair loss before you start treatment to allow you to compare them after 6 months and judge the effect.

It is important to start taking Avodart as soon as possible for hair loss. The more hair you have already lost, the harder it is to restarting the growth cycle.

During the inital stages of treatment you may find that you begin to shed some hair. This is a common side effect as damaged follicles shed thin or fine hair to enable thicker hair to grow in its place.

Propecia and Avodart block the production of DHT. In a like-for-like study comparing Propecia 1mg tablets and Avodart 0.5mg Capsules, over 24 weeks, the results showed Avodart to have more hair; 94.6 hairs compared to Propecia which had 76.5 hairs.

It is thought to be safe to combine Avodart with the topical medicine Regaine. Regaine conatins monoxidil, which has a different mechanism of action to dutasteride (Avodart). Minoxidil increases blood flow to hair follicles. This helps more oxygen and nutrients to reach the area and increases the liklihood of hair growth. The combination of the two medicines may lead to more hair growth. Regaine is best started withtin five years of hair loss occurring, this makes it most likely to be effective.

Avodart capsules should not be brought into contact with women of child bearing age. Dutasteride, the active ingredient, can be absorbed and go on to have effects on an unborn baby's sexual organs. If a woman of childbearing age comes into contact with Avodart capsules, especially if the capsules are broken, medical advice should sought immediately.

Avodart can sometimes be excreted in the ejaculate of men taking the medication. To help avoid the medicine coming into contact with women, a condom should be used whilst taking this medicine.

You need to stop the taking Avodart for at least 6 months before you intend to give blood. This is to ensure any blood given to pregnant women does not contain traces of the medication for reasons explained above.

There have not been any large studies to conclusively find the result of Avodart on male fertility. Current evidence available suggest that a small percentage of men (around 1%) will produce a lower volume of ejaculate wilst taking Avodart. This should be nothing to worry about, evidence suggest it is reversible on discontinuing the medicine and that it does not affect the abitlity to get an erection or hinder sexual performance.